Follow my Brava and Fat Grafting Day by Day
Comments
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Thank you Eileen. I am feeling so much more positive about all of this. It's the waiting that is difficult as I just want to keep moving forward. So appreciate other women like you sharing their experiences. Hope you have great holiday weekend!
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I'm not sure if it's been updated, but when I called a few last summer, they told me they were no longer doing it or not taking new patients. That's how I ended up calling Khouri.
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breast reconstruction has to be covered in the US, but brava has not been approved by the FDA for reconstruction. Fat grafting is, so - as long as the doctor is in your plan - you can force them to pay for the doc and surgeries.
I haven't heard of anyone getting the equipment and accessories covered, though.
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That is my understanding as well. As long as Brava is considered "off label" insurance will not cover it. Wonder if insurance companies are lobbying against this? Clearly there is no consensus among PS's. If men needed off label device it would have been approved.....yesterday...and NASA would have been called in.:)
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I'm not sure about that. I don't think it will be improved-maybe in certain circumstances when there are no other options. There is a reason the list of doctors doing it is getting smaller, not bigger. It's a huge time and money investment, beyond the machine itself and a lot of women aren't seeing it through. Honestly, if I hadn't spent so much, I would have quit sooner. If my insurance had been paying for it instead of me, I don't even know that I would have made it to month three.
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I don't have any experience with Brava yet but I was hopeful it would help. I guess I just want as many options as possible. It may prove to be too much for me as well.
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i am doing it on my own terms, using for less time but it DID help post transfer recovery even though i onoy used it before peocedure
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Lily55, how was it helpful post transfer? Did you have shorter recovery or no necrosis? Thnx
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using it before meant my tissue was already stretched so i had no pain or tight feeling at all, and thearea looks less traumatized in general. I used it for five or six hours a day for four weeks and did not use it all during last two days pre surgery. No signs of any necrosis . Not used it since, i trusted my own body to tell me when enough was enough not the program
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Pain level will really depend on how much feeling you have in the breast. I had pain every time I used the BRAVA, sometimes mild and sometimes horrendous. Both doctors had me wear it into the operating room so the breast was stretched and "bloated" to the maximum before surgery. I was also told to wear it starting a week after surgery until I developed a hematoma and we all decided it was enough.
My sportsbox has been sold (I actually have another, but it's missing a piece so I'm not sure if I can sell it) and the domes thrown away. At this point it's just evening out anyway on the next surgery.
The experience is really so different for so many people. There are also many different reasons to do/not do BRAVA. Obviously, if you don't have much feeling in the area, it's not going to be painful.
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Hey all, Yes, our experiences are all unique. I have the iron bra syndrome right now but do not have any feeling on chest. I keep thinking I am Mrs. Doubtfire.:) I was hoping the tightness would go away and some feeling would return with Brava/AFT. Just going to have to wait and see. Hope everyone hanging in there.
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I had a lot of feeling in the area which is how I regulated how long I wore BRAVA for, but I reasoned that inflammation is not a good precursor for surgery.............my tightness reduced AFTER fat transfer, before BRAVA which is illogical sounding i know but ......
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Thanks Lily Hope things are going well for you... I can live with iron bra feeling but sure would be great if I didn't have to!!
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Dear Ladies All,
Thank you for your continuing support and encouragement. Where I am at the moment is that I had medical photos taken earlier this year. Next week I will pick up copies and then be able to send these official photos via e-mail to foreign PSs.
Lily I am off to see my BS next week and to see how things stand at the moment, i.e. an ultra sound having had the total arrogant **** of a PS I am dealing with here put the fear of God in me about my situation. A calm look via ultra-sound with my lovely consultant BS is what I need and I get that on 14th July. Well done for building up your courage, so sorry that you are still too upset to look at yourself in the bath. I have to say I hardly ever look at myself anymore these days anyway.
DNice I think one gets to the point where one gets sooooooooo used to stripping off in public, one really doesn't care anymore. Just as well, eh? Do something enough times and it loses its impact. I've been at this game for 3 years now and that's where I am now.
Hopeful thanks for your advice. Once I've got the results from the 14th I think, as you say, I need to take some pro-active action.
I wrote to my PS a month ago and he has asked to see me, so that's on the 25th July. I'll wait and see what sort of specific responses he can offer me to my specific questions.
Eileen why don't you as that Q to your PS??? And .............who is he/she anyway :-)
Best wishes to all
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Ladybird, Hope all goes well on the 14th. You are right about getting more comfortable! After three years it must be second nature! Interested to know who you choose for your PS. Take care.
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Another resource for finding doctors who do fat grafting, including pictures (you can view them if you submit your own pictures) and discussion forum is fatgraftpatients.com
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There is a thread here that has several doctors who do fat grafting.I think if you do a search for fat grafting,it should come up.There is also a thread that was Has anyone had fat grating? That had a lot of very useful info.
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FatGraftPatients.com is an excellent resource for those going through BRAVA fat grafting. Everyone there is using BRAVA. It's not a good place to make a decision or to go if you are not using BRAVA.
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ladybird, hope things went well with BS today. Thinking everyone is on vacation or over at fatgfraftpatients.com.
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Thank you, thank you, thank you for all your support. It's 5am here! This is what happens after an appt with my consultant. So much to think about.
I saw my BS today who is lovely. Told him my views on the PS that he is an arrogant **** - apparently I'm not the only person who's said that! So good to be vindicated in my appraisal of him. It's not me!!!! My BS said he could do all that the PS could do, except for any micro-surgery flap work, so he suggested I simply drop the PS altogether. So I have. My anxiety levels plummeted as a result :-)
No bad news today, some good. Three "beads/pearls" of tumours seem to have disappeared, my main one is much the same and the other one is also much the same. All these are in the same breast.
No BRAVA in the UK, but my BS says that he can do the fat grafting using a TE (this is what my PS would have done) which he would reduce by the amount of fat he would graft. Apparently, one loses 90% of the fat from the 1st graft, 75% from the 2nd and 50% from the 3rd. Hence, one needs quite a lot to do any grafting at all. This was news to me. Maybe it's better with BRAVA?
He also recommended/suggested a new form of implant which is a hybrid between an implant and a TE. So if the fat doesn't work it can be left in as a permanent implant. If the fat does work he can deflate the TE part of it, and if it works really well, he can take the whole thing out altogether.
I'm still looking into poss having a TUG flap - not common in the UK - trouble with implants is that they are cold to the touch and look OK when standing up but not when lying down!!!! As a Pilates Instructor I do quite a lot of that!!! Hmm, something else for me to consider.
Thanks again for all your +ve input
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I had my first fat transfer without BRAVA and I retained a good 75% of the fat, on a very radiated area, so I know these statistics are not correct!
With this latest one, with BRAVA I have retained around 70%....
I would love to know more about combining fat with implants or this hybrid implant/TE please!! What is the covering on implants as I am allergic to latex......
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I agree lily. I am still researching fat grafting. But your experience seems more in line with everything I have read. My instincts tell me that more current procedures are yielding much better results? And Brava may be the extra that some of us will need. I have not heard of the "hybrid TE/implant". Interesting idea... Truly amazing how fast things are evolving in reconstruction.
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I'm trying to sort out options, wonder if there's anyone here who has used Dr. Del Vechhio in Boston? Or Dr. Halperin, who doesn't use BRAVA but does some other sort of TE with fat grafting. Or, of course, if there are any other recs for PSs in/near Boston, I am done with my current one, who claims that my DIEP flap is "good enough" although less than 50% the size of my real boob. . . .
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Ladybird -
I've been following this thread, although I rarely comment. I didn't use BRAVA, but I did have fat grafting around implants. The PS did the fat grafting only once, just around the edges to make the implants look more natural. I had the fat graft surgery last November, and since then, as far as I can tell, there hasn't been much loss (if any at all) of the fat that was transferred. For the record, I'm "petite" and an average weight for my height.
Yes, the implants can feel very cold... but not always. I don't know why sometimes they're cold and sometimes warm. The irradiated side is still very tough, but it feels softer where the fat was transferred. Because I have implants, when I lay down, they don't look different at all. (Implants don't move much - lol.) Maybe the feeling and appearance are different with other types of implants???
I have to say, when I first came across this thread, I wished I'd known about BRAVA. Then, in following the posts, I was glad I didn't try it. But, this new procedure with the TE's and fat grafting... I WISH it had been an option when I was DX'd. Yes, indeed, the art of reconstruction is advancing very rapidly.
Good news, Ladybird, about the tumors disappearing! :-) (Yeah, I know, "tumors" - I'm in the U.S. - lol.)
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I did not use Dr.Del Vecchio,but had a phone consult with him.He was very involved with Dr.Khouri a few years ago and was a partner in the clinical trials,but seems they may have parted ways.Dr.DelVecchio (when I spoke with him) was very adamant that anyone he worked on be compliant with the BRAVA.He wanted to do a video conference with me once a week since I am about a 5-6 hour drive from him.A successful outcome seemed to be very important to him.I decided against fat grafting for a number of reasons,but would have gone to a lovely doctor in Middletown NY Dr.Mario Loomis if I had decided to go the fat grafting route.
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hi jcbis1, I also had my surgery in Boston. I did have a consult with Dr Delevecchio. I am going to have next consult with Dr Jay Austen at Mass General in a couple weeks. Have you gone to fatgraftpatients.com yet? It is another very helpful site. I am also going to NYC for a consult with Dr Ahn. She gets great reviews from so many women. If you want to PM me I can tell you who my first PS was in Boston. (Curious if we had same surgeon) Anyway, I would also recommend reading all reviews you can about PS's you are considering. This seems overwhelming at times but so important IMO. I did not know about all the options with AFT and Brava at time of MX. Wish I had as now I feel like I'm backtracking. There is another woman in Boston on this thread. She is going to consult with Dr. Tobias and let me know what she thinks. I can pass info along. Take care.
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I REALLY WANT TO TALK TO DR HARTOG IN ORLANDO..THINK HE STUDIED UNDER DR KHOURI BUT HE HAS A SYSTEM TO STORE FAT SO YOU DONT HAVE TO GO THROUGH THE LIPOSUCTION PART SO MANY TIMES...SOUNDS GOOD TO ME !! ANYONE OUT THERE DONE THAT?? I THINK THEY WAY THEY PROCESS THE FAT HAS ALOT TO DO WITH SURVIVAL RATE. DONT KNOW WHAT THE SECRET IS BUT THERE SEEMS TO BE SEVERAL WAYS TO CENTRFUGE AND RECOMPILE THE TISSUE FOR REINJECTION..SUZANNE SOMMERS HAS HER FAT GRAFTING SURGERY ON UTUBE
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i would rather have fresh fat put back in, not stored,
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nevinsdb, I have read this as well somewhere. I am unsure if it was the same doctor but wow! I guess it's not really much different than storing blood? Can't believe how fast these methods are evolving but so glad that people are working on them. Are you going to see Dr. Hartog? I am interested to know if anyone else has tried this. I read the plastic surgery journals and have also seen that docs centrifuge differently. Some faster, some slower.
Lilly55, is there a reason why you feel "fresh" fat is better? Just curious..... Dnice
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just that any kind of storage would affect the fat as fat absorbs everything, odours, toxins etc so there is more chance of a reaction against it when its transplanted in.
My surgeon uses centrifuge and i retain a lot more than the statistics shown here
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